Turkey and Russia recently reached an agreement for the sale and installation of a Russian S-400 missile defense system. From a news update on August 25 in Debka File:

Turkey and Russia have reached agreement on the sale of Russian S-400 missile defense systems to Ankara, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday. … Defending Turkey as a NATO country buying arms from Russia, Yildirim said his country was working with Russia and Iran in Syria…

Turkey reached an agreement with Russia to purchase the latter’s most sophisticated missile-defense system, the S-400, a senior Turkish military official told Bloomberg last week.

Under the $2.5 billion agreement Ankara would receive two batteries of the antiaircraft missile from Moscow within the coming year and then produce two more batteries in Turkey.

At the beginning of June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready to deliver the missile system, and a Russian military-industry official said an agreement on technical details had been reached in mid-June.

Response: I believe that this missile agreement has major implications for the alignment of the nations potentially participating in an Ezekiel 38-39 scenario: Gog and Magog vs. Israel. This development is important because Turkey and Russia are the modern equivalents of a number of the major nations allied against Israel in the prophecy. Now Turkey and Russia are increasingly becoming closer and with this agreement Turkey’s position in NATO and as a close ally of the United States is in question and on the decline.

Note that in the Debka news update that Turkey PM Yildirim said his country was ‘working with Russia and Iran in Syria’ –all 4 are major pieces in the scenario puzzle that have refused to come together until now. In the past Russia and turkey have fought against each other in at least 12 wars and were on opposite sides during the ‘Cold War’ with Turkey as a member of NATO. Also, Turkey and Iran have always been rivals in the past, both represent different major factions in Islam- Sunni (Turkey) and Shia (Iran), with each hoping to become the dominant power and headquarters for a new Islamic Caliphate.

Now Putin of Russia seems to be in the process of bringing these usual rivals all together in the war against ISIS in Syria. So the nations that are listed in the Ezekiel 38-39 attack against Israel are beginning to come together for the first time in history. -–>One thing for sure, Turkey, Iran, and Syria are all united against Israel. Also Russia nearly got involved in two Israeli wars in the past when their allies at the time were utterly defeated by the Jewish state. For the other countries listed in Ezekiel, Sudan and Libya are now radical Islamist nations that would be naturals to join in along with the radical Islamic ‘istan’ nations in the north.

One thing standing in the way of the Ezekiel scenario right now is ISIS. While the radical ISIS Islamists would gladly join in any war against Israel, their land wars in Syria and Iraq would need to be resolved one way or another before all of these nations could unite against Israel. The other major factor still blocking an Ezekiel scenario is the alliance of the USA with Israel. I had my concerns about this while Obama was President but not under Trump. Nevertheless we will keep watching and noting any further developments.

To understand more fully how recent developments in the Middle East within the last couple of years might be moving toward a possible Ezekiel scenario, read this from my last update:

For years, Bible teachers and preachers have been looking for Russia to lead a coalition of nations in an attack against Israel as foretold in Ezekiel 38-39.

I haven’t worried about that possibility since Turkey is the real key to that whole scenario since many of the ancient nations mentioned in the prophecy are now incorporated in modern Turkey. Also Turkey has had close ties with Israel for years, has been a close ally of the USA, and an integral part of NATO which traditionally opposed Russia and their allies.

Now I believe that Turkey is in play and that we might actually be witnessing the lining up of a possible Ezekiel 38-39 coalition. Lately, Turkey has been increasingly more radical and Islamist. Also, the Turkish leaders partially blame the USA for the recent so-called coup since the supposed coup leader lives in America and the Obama administration refuses to extradite him.

Then there are the recent trips that Russia’s Putin has made to Turkey trying to bring them into their sphere of influence along with Iran and all of the former Soviet ‘istan’ republics. It is the moves that Putin has recently made along with the declining relationships between Turkey and the USA along with Israel which has caused me to write this update.

Is the Ezekiel 38-39 scenario now in place? No, but the trends listed above are going in that direction. Keep your eye on Turkey, that country remains the modern key to the whole thing.

Is ‘Freedom of Religion’ merely code for hate and anti-LGBT rights? Are organizations which support religious liberties really ‘hate groups’? Are folks who want to live according to traditional Biblical beliefs nothing more than bigots and haters?

No! Certainly not.

This week I saw more articles than I can number that agreed with the ABC News assessment of the ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) as nothing more than an anti-LGBT ‘Hate group.’ What did the ADF do to deserve that designation? It defended freedom of religion and in particular Christians who want to continue to live according to Biblical teaching. Which is supposedly guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

This is not the first time that I saw the main stream media down playing religious liberty as a legal excuse for hate and actually code for opposing LGBT civil rights. A couple of years ago when the state of Indiana passed the ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’ it was assailed on the left as nothing more than a legal excuse for discrimination against LGBT folks. Ditto for every state law protecting the freedom of religion passed since then.

Recently Senator Sanders supported a ‘religious test’ which would ban Christians from serving in the government if they continue to support Biblical teaching over LGBT rights. He reasoned that the First Amendment would continue to allow Christians to believe what they want but that didn’t mean that the government had to continue to employ or tolerate haters in the public square.

Point is, this is becoming a prevailing theme and notion on the left that religious freedom is merely a legal excuse for keeping LGBT folks down and actually code for hate, bigotry, and discrimination. Therefore, every attempt by religious folks to upgrade laws protecting religious liberty is being vigorously opposed by progressives. Except when it comes to Muslims who continue to get a pass since they also need protection from right wing hate and islamophobia.

Meanwhile, Christian business owners are being forced to provide services which are in opposition to their closely held religious beliefs. Christian schools and organizations are being told by government authorities that they must accommodate transgender folks regardless. Christian chaplains and military personnel are being fired or censored for having Bibles on their desks or scriptural passages on display or for praying ‘in Jesus name.’ Christian students are being discriminated against on college campuses; their groups being banned, and some are being dropped from graduate programs because of their faith. Cities are banning home Bible study groups, arresting home fellowship pastors, and zoning property so that churches cannot be built.

Now the very groups (Like ADF) that are legally supporting Christians in the midst of all of this discrimination are being called ‘hate groups’ and freedom of religion itself, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment, is being characterized as a legal excuse for bigotry? Then there are many others like former president Obama which are pushing for the First Amendment to be reinterpreted as ‘freedom of worship’ only within the four walls of an official church or place of worship. What Senator Sanders recently said seems to support that view.

If Hillary Clinton was elected then the drum beat would have continued to another level entirely and I believe that conservative Christians would have been phased out of government service except those who are elected by the people, and the ‘freedom of worship’ interpretation of the First Amendment would have been confirmed by the courts due to the appointment of radical judges that would have made it so.

What ever you may think about President Trump, the appointment of conservative federal judges may save the freedom of religion in America as it has been traditionally understood. The battle is raging and the end is not yet in sight but we do now have a reprieve and a window of opportunity.

It is imperative for the millions of believing Christians to come out of the shadows and make their support for religious freedom and liberty known. The MSM and leftist narrative that denigrates our religious freedoms and liberties need to be rejected along with the purveyors of such notions. There is a cultural war raging in America and many Christians do not seem to realize that their Biblical beliefs and liberties are in the process of being outlawed, many times by unelected bureaucrats and judges.

It is time to stand up and support groups like the ADF which are holding back the tides of our spiritual enemy from ensnaring our land and destroying our liberties. We still have the vote, we can still pray, and we should be on our knees praying for our leaders and nation daily. Our greatest hope right now is for revival and a new awakening. Prayer still changes things. *Top

Flags are flying, parades are moving, drinks are flowing, and politicians are speaking today in America.

240 years ago a message was confirmed by representatives of 13 colonies proclaiming their freedom, a freedom that was considered to bederived from God:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Much has been made of the variety of beliefs held by the founders of this country but their words and convictions remain not only on paper but also in the hearts of the people.

Declaration of Independence: The Emphasis Upon God

When it comes to the Declaration of Independence, the words- “by their Creator” were a major part of the message, the subject, and the emphasis.

Many secularists and atheists today want to de-emphasize the role of faith in the founding of this country to the point that many are attempting to actually rewrite history itself. For them, God could have easily been left out of the document with little or no effect.

But in the context of 1776, those words were the whole linchpin of the document and appealed to as the ultimate authority and source for the rights of the Americans to rebel against the King of England.

In the context of the 18th century the Europeans believed that their Kings reigned and ruled ‘by Divine right’ under the authority of God and were His direct representatives. In fact, the King of England was also the head of the church and was supposed to defend the Christian faith against heresy and all enemies. In that cultural context, to rebel against the King was tantamount to rebelling against God the Creator himself.

In the Declaration the founders made it clear that they were not rebelling against God but that the Creator was actually the ultimate authority they were appealing to saying that their ‘rights’ were derived directly from the Creator and not given to them by the King of England or some parchment or Parliament.

It was a radical document at the time and changed the whole course of human history and ‘the Creator’ was part and parcel of the Declaration of Independence and the ultimate authority appealed to in the whole process. *Top

The essential difference between Christianity and Islam is the difference between Jesus and Muhammad. Jesus was a spiritual leader who laid down His life to save the world. Muhammad was a spiritual leader, who became a political leader, then a violent military leader. Jesus accomplished His mission by dying on the cross. Muhammad accomplished his mission (at least in large part) by ruling by the sword.

Response: Dr. Brown identifies the essential difference between the two world religions as being reflected in the lives of the two founders. Jesus as a man of peace and Muhammad as a conqueror. The practical result is undeniable. Which is actually the ‘religion of peace’ in our world today?

I have written a number of articles on this same subject, mostly identifying the theological differences which revolve around our different understandings of the character of God and the identity and divinity of Jesus Christ:

This comes from an academic and includes 5 excellent scientific, philosophical, and historical arguments on why God probably does exist. Not the typical explanations that you might get from your pastor. Well worth the read. *Top